


In An Instant

by GrumpyMookie



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26507734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyMookie/pseuds/GrumpyMookie
Summary: Nora is grappling with the loss of her son and Arthur tries to do the best he can to help.
Relationships: Arthur Maxson/Female Sole Survivor, Arthur Maxson/Sole Survivor
Kudos: 15





	In An Instant

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this while I was tipsy, so please forgive any mistakes or whatever lol

She could still hear Shaun’s last words to her ringing through her head. It unsettled her deeply. The way his eyes bore through her in the most vicious glare. It shook her to the core. Her own son had hated her with all of his being til his very last breath. He was past the point of saving; that place had brain washed him for 60 years. Shaun would’ve never let her save him. But it still pained her, knowing that she allowed Arthur to blow up with the Institute. She felt she could’ve done more to save him, there could’ve been something.   
Nora knew she had missed seeing him grow up, the chance to raise him was snatched away from her all those years ago. He had been a stranger to her. Shaun wasn’t the person she had wanted him to be. Yet here she was riddled with guilt, standing out on the forecastle of the Prydwen, trying to hold her tears in.   
The only reason she had joined the Brotherhood was to find an efficient way to find her son. Now everything seemed pointless. She had found him. And now she had killed him. For the longest time she blamed Kellog and the Institute for taking her baby away from her. Now she was to blame.  
The cool night air hit her cheeks, making her close her eyes in an attempt to keep a sob in. She had been dressed in her best uniform for the big celebration. In the wake of the destruction of the Institute, Elder Maxson allowed one night of celebrations. Which meant many off duty soldiers sharing drinks all over the main deck, cheering and whooping all night long. It was too much for her to handle. She was the lady of the evening, being the destructor of the Big Bad, but she wanted nothing to do with the spotlight. Obviously, she had been relieved to get rid of the Commonwealth's Boogeyman. But she needed to breathe the night air and process the fact that she had lost everything that she had ever loved in her previous life.   
No one had noticed her slip out. At least she hoped. Because now the emotions were bubbling up her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. She finally stopped trying to suppress her sobs and just let her shoulders shake with anguish. Nora cried for her dead husband, her stolen baby, the person Shaun could’ve grown up to be, and her old life. She lost all her purpose, her entire being when that shithole blew up.   
Sadness was quickly replaced with heartbroken anger. With tears making their way down her face, she let out a loud scream into the night air, filled with rage, grief and sorrow. The sleepy commonwealth absorbed her anguish. Nora yelled until her lungs couldn’t take it anymore, until her pained yelling turned into soft sobs. She had come this far, to destroy the institute and find her son, but god at what cost?   
\---  
Arthur watched his soldiers share drinks and beam with pride as they celebrated throughout the Prydwen. He had to admit, he loved seeing his people like this. Their morale was through the roof, singing and cheering amongst themselves. He felt his chest fill with contentment, knowing that the commonwealth was safe, save for the super mutants, ghouls and raiders. But this was the biggest step they had to make to cleanse this place, and they took the leap thanks to her.   
Nora. . . The woman who was always on his mind. A power house, an unstoppable force. The one person in the Commonwealth who was able to stop the Institute. He admired her. More than he’d care to admit.   
At just the thought of Nora he started glancing around the big vessel to see if he could find her amongst the crowd. But she was nowhere to be found. Strange. So he decided to take an inconspicuous stroll around the ship to see if he could find the woman of the hour. He passed a group of scribes who hung off of each other, waving their drinks in the air, singing a rather horrible rendition of “The Wanderer”. He smiled at the group, enjoying the energy.   
He continued around the deck until he came to the door which led to the forecastle, the long walkway that viewed over the commonwealth. Arthur wasn’t about to open it until he heard screams of agony, of loss. He froze as he listened, hearing the pain and anguish reverbing through the metal door. Slowly it died out, making him reach for the door handle. Once he was on the other side, he saw Nora hunched over the railing, shoulders quaking from sobs. His heart pounded in his ears as confusion set in.   
She hadn’t noticed that she now had company, so she continued slumping herself over the railing while she tried to compose herself. He stared at her shivering form, wondering how he should approach her. Arthur wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t want to scare her. He knew he could be intimidating at times and could be seen as a ‘cold’ presence. But there was something in his heart that was screaming at him to do something.   
Slowly, he approached her, trying to put caution in his steps. Nora heard the creeks of his footsteps on the metal flooring. She whipped around to face him, tears staining her cheeks and a surprised expression plastered on her soft features. “Arthur. . .” Her voice was barely above a whisper.   
For some reason, in that moment, he found Nora incredibly beautiful. He had always thought she was beautiful. But there was something so extremely intimate about this moment, seeing her cheeks flushed with the cold air and leftover tears in her long eyelashes. She was always such a closed off woman that seeing her in such a vulnerable state seemed to be forbidden.   
Arthur had no idea what he was doing when he continued to take gentle steps towards her. His heart seemed to clench at the sight before him, seeing her in despair and not knowing why. He had wanted her to be happy, to be proud of all of the things that they had accomplished together, side by side.   
But she was looking at him with such heartache in her eyes, as if she was begging him to make her pain go away. Even though she had made everyone else in the Commonwealth believe she was some cold force to be reckoned with, Arthur had been the only one she had ever really shown her true self to. Through all of her months alone in the wasteland, she found some solace in having deep conversations and staying up late with the Elder.   
When he was finally in front of her, it was as if every single rational thought had flown out of his mind. At that point forward, all he wanted to do was make her pain go away. She still had the pain in her eyes as she looked up at him, but had a curious look on her face, wondering what he was about to do.   
His heart pounded in his ears while one of his hands reached up to cup her cheek, his thumb wiping away a stray tear. This was foreign territory for both of them. Arthur Maxson was never tender. Not in his entire life. But for her, he made an exception.   
At first when his hand made contact with her skin her first instinct was to flinch away, her high emotions from losing her son a second time still causing her to be over sensitive. But when she allowed him to fully cup her cheek, she quickly leaned into his touch, enjoying the warmth. She closed her eyes, enjoying his closeness, trying to forget all of her fears and pain. In her time of vulnerability, she just really wanted to be held.   
Though in this moment, they both weren’t thinking rationally or thinking how this could impact the future. This moment was a pocket of time that didn’t impact the outside world around it. So Arthur did the one thing he had been dreaming of doing since the day he had first met Nora.   
He placed a gentle kiss on her lips, testing the waters first. Arthur heard her breath hitch at first, processing what he had just done. But not even a second had passed when she leaned forward and initiated a second kiss, pouring all of her hurt and confusion into it and pressing her body into his.   
He didn’t know what had come over him and why he felt the need to try and kiss her problems away. But dear god, the way she had looked at him, he couldn’t hold back anymore. He ached to kiss her like this.   
And there they were, gliding their tongues across one another’s with Arthur caressing her face gently as if she could break in an instant. He’d hoped she couldn’t tell that he hadn’t kissed anyone since he was 16. He’d hoped it wasn’t that obvious. All he hoped that she could feel was how badly he wanted to kiss her, to make her feel the slightest bit better. He tried to portray that through every moment of the kiss.   
Suddenly there was a noise that came from behind them, indicating that someone was coming through the door from the inside of the Prydwen. As soon as they heard that sound they quickly jumped away from each other, not making any eye contact. Nora wiped the back of her hand across her mouth as if to erase any evidence that she had just kissed the Elder.  
Arthur turned to see who was interrupting their moment. It just so happened that it was a scribe and a knight who were drunkenly hanging off each other who were just coming out onto the forecastle to fool around. The two men looked shocked at finding the sentinel and the Elder out there by themselves. “Oh, uh sorry, Elder. Didn’t mean to interrupt.” The knight cleared his throat.   
Arthur looked back at Nora to see her reaction and she was still avoiding eye contact with all parties, looking out onto the sleepy Commonwealth. He turned back at the expectant men, wondering if they could still use this place to fool around. “Nothing to interrupt here soldiers. We were just. . . leaving.” Arthur looked down and passed the knight and scribe to escape back into the Prydwen.   
After that incident, both Arthur and Nora had escaped back to their individual cabins with a swirl of emotions. Arthur not knowing if he had done the right thing, but also wondering if he would ever be able to kiss Nora again. And Nora didn’t know how to feel. All it did was make her feel more confused. Not knowing what the future held. At least the kiss made her forget about her son for just a couple more hours. . .


End file.
